Working Groups

We fund innovative projects that explore the societal opportunities and challenges of digital transformation and develop practice-oriented perspectives.

The funding program is open to outstanding scholars and practitioners from all disciplines and at all career stages. It welcomes both basic research and application-oriented projects. An academic degree is not required, if applicants demonstrate an outstanding level of qualification relative to their career stage.

The purpose of the working group program is to bring together experts from different institutions who would otherwise not be able to collaborate in person. It is also intended to foster collaboration with researchers affiliated with CAIS or its shareholder institutions. Working groups whose members are predominantly affiliated with the same institution in Germany, or international groups with members mostly based in the same country, can only be funded if there are compelling reasons to conduct the project in Bochum – for example, fieldwork in the region.

The group must be inter- or transdisciplinary in composition. At the time of application, the majority of proposed members must have confirmed their participation. At least one member must be affiliated with CAIS or one of its shareholder institutions and must have agreed to participate at the time of application.

To qualify for peer-review, applications must meet the above requirements and demonstrate clarity for a general academic audience, a well-defined focus, and a sufficient level of detail and care.

The application deadline for working group meetings in 2027 is 19 December 2025. We will inform you of the outcome of your application by the end of July 2026.

Applications must be submitted in English via the application form. Please familiarize yourself with the form before filling it out and consider the information provided in the individual sections.

An application consists of the following elements:

1. 1. Personal data and information about the requested meeting(s)
   2. Outline of proposal
      – Abstract (max. 300 words)
      – Subject and lines of research (max. 1500 words)
      – Literature review/ State of the Art (max. 700 words)
      – Theories and methods (max. 700 words)
      – Projected results (max. 300 words)
      – Social relevance (max. 300 words)
      – Preliminary work (max. 300 words)
      – Work plan (max. 300 words)
      – Bibliographical references (max. 1500 words)
   3. List of participants with the following information: name, institution/company, discipline/profession, traveling from/to, status of participation (invited/confirmed) (PDF)
   4. Curriculum Vitae (PDF, max. two pages with no more than five publication references)
   5. One relevant publication (PDF, max. 5 MB – optional)

Only one applicant should enter their personal information in the form. If you want to apply with colleagues (max. 3 applicants) you can clarify this in the section „preliminary work“ and merge your CVs and publications into one PDF each.

Please refrain from submitting multiple application forms. If you do not receive an automated confirmation e-mail, contact us.

Applications that meet the above requirements are assessed by two reviewers. The evaluation criteria are:

• Professional expertise and qualification of applicant(s)
• Social relevance and topicality
• Originality and innovative potential
• Theories and methods
• Projected results
• Inter- or Transdisciplinarity
• Feasibility of the work plan
• Expertise and profile of other members

Based on the reviews and with consideration of diversity criteria and available capacities, the Program Committee makes the final funding decisions.